On the Defensive side of the ball, the Steelers only have one real battle going on and thatís at Nickel Corner. That battle is going to involve 4 players. One of which is William Gay who was a starter last year, but he will most likely see a reduced role since the reacquiring of Bryant McFadden. The middle 2 are second year players Keenan Lewis and Joe Burnett. The last person aiming for the spot is rookie Crezdon Butler.

Some might not consider this a battle due to the fact that it is not technically a starter, but with the emergence of the air attack that has taken over the NFL in recent years, the nickel package is on the field more then your base defense. Quarterbacks tore apart the league last year. There were 10 QBís with over 4000 yards passing. If you have a 4,000 yard passing year, you normally are an all pro, but this year you werenít even guarenteed to make the Pro Bowl. In a normal NFL Season, a player with 25 touchdown passes was considered elite. Last year over 1/3 of the Quarterbacks reached and surpassed this total. Not all of these QBís are elite. This is just how much more advanced the game is now, and it makes you realize how important this position on the field is for your team.

The quarterbacks are not the only reason this position is important. You now have tight ends that are more like receivers then old time tight ends. Teams have guys like Dallas Clark, Chris Cooley and Jeremy Shockey lining up in the slot. They are just as fast as receivers and as big as offensive tackles. They are a nightmare for linebackers in coverage. They almost force you to play with your nickel package on the field. They need a more skilled player to cover them. Even if you put a safety on the tight end, you still need another player in coverage that is athletic enough to cover the area vacated by the safety.

Lastly and probably the scariest reason you need a good nickel corner is because you have the quickest and smoothest receiver on the field playing in the slot. They look for the opening and sit in it or run quickly across the field and just outrun your players in man or the coverage in zone. The best example of this is Wes Welker. He lines up in the slot runs five yards, catches the ball then gets another 5-10 YAC. Welker has the most catches of anyone over the past 3 seasons. The slot is not a position of weakness anymore.

The Steelers have a great deal of options at the position. All are young but also capable. They can step in and make the plays. Letís take a look.

http://steelerstoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/william-gay.jpg

Option 1 is William Gay. Gay was made the starter last season with the loss of Bryant McFadden to free agency. Gay struggled in his first year as a starter. In my opinion, he was out of position and not given the chance to succeed. Gay played the nickel corner on the Steelers Super Bowl team which was the best defense in the NFL if not the best defense of all time. He was where he is comfortable and had help around him anytime he was out on the field. He is a natural slot cover guy, not an outside corner. He needs help around him and canít be one on one with a receiver. After last yearís performance, I lost some confidence in Gay. He was exposed and once that happens you have a hard time coming back and not being attacked over and over by a good quarterback. I still think that Gay is one of the better options.

Option 2 is Keenan Lewis. This is my favorite option. Lewis is being compared to Ike Taylor in his coverage ability. If that is the case, he could be the next great Steelers corner since Ike Taylor would be a top 5 corner in the NFL if he could catch. Lewis is a tall corner who loves to hit. He also belongs on the outside which excites me because I think McFadden will elevate his play tremendously on the inside versus the slot. Lewis is ahead of the curve when learning the defense as well. He did not spend much time on the field due to injury last year but overcompensated that with more film study. He still has much to learn, but that is also a good sign that he will do whatever he can to get better.

Option 3 is Joe Burnett. Burnett is my favorite player of this group. He is still raw and needs some more game experience. This kid has playmaker written all over him though. He always seems to be where the ball is. In his limited time on the field last year he had 17 tackles and dropped one interception. During the preseason he had a pick six and had 4 pass defenses. He always seems to make plays on the ball when he gets out there. I do not think he is a good option for the nickel though. He would be perfect for our dime scheme but still has a long way to go before he becomes a big player in this league.

Option 4 is rookie Crezdon Butler. Just like Burnett, he is loaded with potential. Butler was a borderline first round pick in 2009. He decided to stay in school and did not have the year he expected and dropped to the fifth round. All you heard out of OTAís were great things about this kid. The coaches seem to love everything he does. I think this could be a hidden gem in years to come. His shot to be the nickel corner though is slim. He will need time to learn the system and get comfortable with his surroundings.

http://media.scout.com/Media/Image/68/680960.jpg

This one has a lot more light shed on it already with the way practice went with OTAs. With the way the Steelers play defense, the corners have set sides. Thus, with a player like McFadden who can thrive on the inside, you have to look at who the Steelers have lined up as his backup so that the position can be filled by that player. During OTAs, that player was Keenan Lewis. As I said earlier, I love this lineup. It was my favorite option and I would be extremely happy if things end up this way.

Didn't you used to be a Gay supporter? Or were you just a former Colon guy?

Oviedo

06-24-2010, 07:43 AM

I think Burnett is underestimated and is the perfect Nickle. He is quick and has a nose for the ball.

Don't be surprised if we see him on the field quite a bit this year.

I really would not want this year wasted with Gay playing the Nickle. He is in the final year of his contract and IMO it is unlikely he gets resigned. Why waste a year of develop on a short term solution and not give Burnett or Butler the reps to build on in the future?

ramblinjim

06-24-2010, 08:08 AM

I know it's a long shot but I'd love to see Keenan Lewis beat out McFadden for the #2 corner position.

JUST-PLAIN-NASTY

06-24-2010, 08:43 AM

Don't know who wins it at this point in the off season. What I do know is the return of McFadden, another year for Gay, year 2 for Burnett & Lewis, and the addition of a raw talent like Butler...Makes the CB position a strength.

Before the draft & as the draft unfolded I was worried. After the trade for McFadden...It went away! The question marks of the young players can sort themselves out now. It doesn't have to be this year with McFadden starting.

I'll take Gay through Butler against another teams 3-5 WRs if they had to be matched up in man. However, in this system, #3 & #4 CB need to be instinctive in a zone. Those guys can give you that until they are ready to step in at #1 & #2. Taylor & McFadden in base will be the difference. Troy is back healthy and whomever ends up being #2 & #3 for nickel & dime will have at least a year under his belt or more. Unless...This Butler kid looks as good with the pads on as he did in OTA's. He has skills.

frankthetank1

06-24-2010, 08:52 AM

I think Burnett is underestimated and is the perfect Nickle. He is quick and has a nose for the ball.

Don't be surprised if we see him on the field quite a bit this year.

I really would not want this year wasted with Gay playing the Nickle. He is in the final year of his contract and IMO it is unlikely he gets resigned. Why waste a year of develop on a short term solution and not give Burnett or Butler the reps to build on in the future?

he was also in his final year of contract LAST season!! i hope you are right and this will be the last season for gay as a steeler. i agree i would love to see burnett, lewis or butler win the job so we can develop young guys for the future. even though we didnt see much of burnett last season i liked what i saw. the dropped int against the raiders was a kick in the nuts but at least he made a great read and broke on the ball. none of our db's showed up for that game so its hard to fault burnett for one play

D Rock

06-24-2010, 09:03 AM

I like the idea of Lewis, Butler, and Burnett being #1-3 in a couple years.

Ike is getting up there, Gay is useless, and McFadden likely wont sign on again after his current 3 years are up if those guys show they can play. If one of them falters, well then sign up McFadden for a few more years again!

The future sounds promising right now. I just hope it all works out.

As for this year, I see Gay getting cut if Lewis and Burnett show normal 2nd year player progression and if Butler shows he can adequately fill in if needed as a #3 or #4 CB. Remember...Gay was only a 5th round pick who was basically handed a starting job. It wont be a big loss.

Oviedo

06-24-2010, 09:23 AM

I like the idea of Lewis, Butler, and Burnett being #1-3 in a couple years.

Ike is getting up there, Gay is useless, and McFadden likely wont sign on again after his current 3 years are up if those guys show they can play. If one of them falters, well then sign up McFadden for a few more years again!

The future sounds promising right now. I just hope it all works out.

As for this year, I see Gay getting cut if Lewis and Burnett show normal 2nd year player progression and if Butler shows he can adequately fill in if needed as a #3 or #4 CB. Remember...Gay was only a 5th round pick who was basically handed a starting job. It wont be a big loss.

I agree with you because I think Gay has peaked. Unfortunately, I think he stays one more year because we are always dealing with the "complexity of the defense" issue which seems to keep players like Tyrone Carter, Deshea Townsend and Gay around longer than they should because of knowledge instead of performance.

ikestops85

06-24-2010, 11:15 AM

I don't want to write Gay off yet. He was as good as or even better than McFadden 2 years ago. He and McFadden were both lousy last year and I don't think either one of them is the answer but don't expect us to be better just because we have McFadden back.

I hope one of the new guys develops into a star. Imagine if we developed 2 real cover corners and could play tight on the outside. With the strength of our front 7 we would be the best defense ever. But for now I just hope our guys get their confidence back and stop giving up big plays. Play the defense the way DL designed it and we will be fine.

hawaiiansteel

06-27-2010, 06:56 PM

Don't know who wins it at this point in the off season. What I do know is the return of McFadden, another year for Gay, year 2 for Burnett & Lewis, and the addition of a raw talent like Butler...Makes the CB position a strength.

Before the draft & as the draft unfolded I was worried. After the trade for McFadden...It went away! The question marks of the young players can sort themselves out now. It doesn't have to be this year with McFadden starting.

I'll take Gay through Butler against another teams 3-5 WRs if they had to be matched up in man. However, in this system, #3 & #4 CB need to be instinctive in a zone. Those guys can give you that until they are ready to step in at #1 & #2. Taylor & McFadden in base will be the difference. Troy is back healthy and whomever ends up being #2 & #3 for nickel & dime will have at least a year under his belt or more. Unless...This Butler kid looks as good with the pads on as he did in OTA's. He has skills.

wouldn't it be great if CB was a position of strength instead of the weakness it was last year?

Oviedo

06-28-2010, 09:05 AM

Don't know who wins it at this point in the off season. What I do know is the return of McFadden, another year for Gay, year 2 for Burnett & Lewis, and the addition of a raw talent like Butler...Makes the CB position a strength.

Before the draft & as the draft unfolded I was worried. After the trade for McFadden...It went away! The question marks of the young players can sort themselves out now. It doesn't have to be this year with McFadden starting.

I'll take Gay through Butler against another teams 3-5 WRs if they had to be matched up in man. However, in this system, #3 & #4 CB need to be instinctive in a zone. Those guys can give you that until they are ready to step in at #1 & #2. Taylor & McFadden in base will be the difference. Troy is back healthy and whomever ends up being #2 & #3 for nickel & dime will have at least a year under his belt or more. Unless...This Butler kid looks as good with the pads on as he did in OTA's. He has skills.

wouldn't it be great if CB was a position of strength instead of the weakness it was last year?

Will it make a difference if Troy misses any time? The defense seems to collapse without him. Hopefully Will Allen can do more than Ty Carter.

D Rock

06-28-2010, 09:14 AM

Don't know who wins it at this point in the off season. What I do know is the return of McFadden, another year for Gay, year 2 for Burnett & Lewis, and the addition of a raw talent like Butler...Makes the CB position a strength.

Before the draft & as the draft unfolded I was worried. After the trade for McFadden...It went away! The question marks of the young players can sort themselves out now. It doesn't have to be this year with McFadden starting.

I'll take Gay through Butler against another teams 3-5 WRs if they had to be matched up in man. However, in this system, #3 & #4 CB need to be instinctive in a zone. Those guys can give you that until they are ready to step in at #1 & #2. Taylor & McFadden in base will be the difference. Troy is back healthy and whomever ends up being #2 & #3 for nickel & dime will have at least a year under his belt or more. Unless...This Butler kid looks as good with the pads on as he did in OTA's. He has skills.

wouldn't it be great if CB was a position of strength instead of the weakness it was last year?

Will it make a difference if Troy misses any time? The defense seems to collapse without him. Hopefully Will Allen can do more than Ty Carter.

There's what the issue was. I don't think the problem was that the defense can't survive without Troy, I think the problem was the the defense couldn't survive with Carter.

You take away the leagues fastest and most athletic safety and replace him with one of the oldest and most physically challenged safeties, and something is bound to break in an awful way.